Difficult Lives
by Amon-Ra3
Summary: Naruto has successfully prevented Sasuke's defection; however, Sasuke is harmed in the process. Wounded, Naruto is attacked on returning and at his most desperate moment gets a second chance at happiness in a new world with no memories. Slight Davis/Hinata. Crossover.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: The characters and places in this story are not mine. Any similarities to other stories are completely coincidental. Naruto and Digimon belong to their respective creators.

I also want to thank everyone for their amazing reactions to my story.

Difficult Lives

Naruto ran through the forest tears spilling down his cheeks. He could hear the villagers following him. It had started after he brought Sasuke back. The fight had been tough and both boys had taken a fair amount of damage. Of course, no one had cared that Naruto had been more injured.

As soon as he had entered the village with Kakashi, Sasuke on Kakashi's back, the villagers had taken one look and blamed Naruto. Kakashi had already left to bring Sasuke to the hospital. Naruto saw the glares and somehow knew that the villagers wouldn't let him live this time. After the first two stones, Naruto ran.

He hadn't paid any attention to where he was going because before he ran, he had seen Sakura glaring at him from the crowd. As the stones had hit, she made no move to help him. That was when Naruto had lost all hope. He had run, never noticing Gai's team, the remaining Rookie Nine, or the Sand team looking at the scene with anger and confusion.

Naruto collapsed, his stomach injury (from Sasuke's Chidori) getting to him. Kyubi's chakra would heal it quicker than it would on its own but it would take time and rest. His running kept reopening the wound.

He heard footsteps nearing him so he stood up and attempted to move forward again. He soon collapsed and before he blacked out, he felt a pull on his body that he couldn't fight.

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The Sand team, Gai's team, and the remaining Rookie Nine ran after Naruto. They had noticed some Anbu headed after the boy with murderous intent and most had noticed Naruto's wound.

The scene after Naruto's return with Kakashi confused most of them. None, except the Sand siblings, had any idea why the villagers hated Naruto so much.

They had, of course, seen some examples of the villagers' dislike. In fact, many had followed and believed their parents before they got to know him.

Naruto's denseness and happy, carefree attitude weren't good enough reasons to hate him in their minds. His pranks had been annoying but he had stopped doing them after graduating the academy. That was still no reason to feel such malice toward the boy as in the scene the group had witnessed moments before.

"We have to reach Naruto before those Anbu." Neji said, causing the group to speed up. They hid behind some trees upon hearing the Anbu arguing.

"Where did that brat go? We've tolerated that demon long enough. After what he did to the Uchiha child, he needs to be punished again and this time, the punishment will be permanent." They heard one of the Anbu say. They were disgusted to hear such satisfaction when the man spoke of punishing Naruto.

None of the group paid attention to when the called Naruto a demon. Any who did just thought it was a simple insult and none made the connection who didn't already know.

"Let's try this way. I can't wait 'til we catch up with that brat. He'll pay." The second Anbu said and luckily the two men headed off in the wrong direction.

The group jumped down. Shikamaru looked over to Neji who nodded and activated his bloodline limit.

"North, an eighth of a mile," Neji said and the group continued their pursuit of Naruto.

They caught up with him when he stopped running. They walked towards him in relief but as they got nearer, he stood up and moved forward a few steps before finally collapsing. It was only then that they saw the dark opening beside the passed out teen. They were too late to stop it from pulling Naruto in.

The young ninja remained there, completely stunned. The hole had closed, taking their friend with it to an unknown place. They had lost Naruto.

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The group had just returned from the forest. They headed straight to the hospital where the Hokage would be healing Sasuke. She needed to know what had happened to the young boy she was so close to.

Kakashi was waiting outside of Sasuke's hospital room when they arrived. He looked up in surprise when he noticed the large group but Tsunade, the Hokage, came out before he could comment. She looked as surprised as the one-eyed jonin to see the visitors.

Shikamaru stepped forward and explained the earlier events. Kakashi paled when he heard about Naruto's flight and both looked angry but unsurprised by the Anbu's behavior. When they were asked about the hole, neither adult could answer what it was or where it had taken their friend any better than the ones who had witnessed the taking. After a brief discussion, it was decided to change Naruto's status to dead until he was found so he wouldn't be classified as a missing nin and hunted down.

The funeral was held three days later and the village celebrated it heartily to the disgust and anger of those who had also come to know and care about Naruto but his friends hadn't given up. They continued searching for their friend but they would have no luck for many years.


	2. Chapter 2

Difficult Lives

Naruto woke up. He became quickly alert at the memories of previous events and at the unfamiliar surroundings. The white coloring all around the room and the sterile smell told him that he was in a hospital. This knowledge confused him because he was certain none of the villagers cared enough to take him to the hospital. They were more likely to kill him. He was saved from further pondering when a woman dressed as a nurse came in.

"You're awake," she said cheerfully. "We were very worried about you."

"Why?" Naruto choked out, trying to sit up but the effort caused him to black out before he could hear her answer.

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Sara walked into the hospital room of the 4 year old boy she had found near the orphanage. His vibrant blonde hair and odd clothing had surprised her but the wound had worried her more. The large hole in his chest was bad enough that most adults wouldn't survive it, much less children at the age of 4 so she had rushed him to the hospital.

Hearing a groan from the bed, the 24 year old woman headed to the bed where her unexpected find rested. She remembered the rare clear blue eyes the boy had. He had woken very briefly but he was so disoriented that she doubted he remembered. So she was very surprised to see brown eyes looking up at her from the bed upon reaching it.

"Hello, who are you?" the child asked.

"My name's Sara. What's yours?" Sara asked, smiling at him.

"Don't know." The child responded, a frown marring his face.

"You don't remember?" she asked with surprise.

"Don't remember nothing," The boy finally said.

"Not even your parents? Any siblings or relatives?" she asked.

"Don't remember." The boy repeated emphatically.

"Alright," She said and left to tell the doctor.

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Sara looked over at the small child. He was finally being released from the hospital. For some reason, the wound had healed quicker than most but Sara had found a lot of surprises in this strange child. He was a shy and sad little boy who always seemed so cheerful. Sara had seen him in some of his weaker moments when he didn't know she was there yet the minute he noticed her presence, his frown would lighten and she faced a cheerful little boy instead of the miserable child she had seen. He held his emotions close but fooled everyone around him in to believing his unwavering happiness which masked his true feelings. It was suspected that this behavior came from his forgotten past which was likely unpleasant but exactly what it was like, they had no idea. Despite rigorous searching, no one had found any clues about the boy and where he came from. He had no records that they could find. In the end, Sara insisted on taking the child back to the orphanage where he could be adopted and with nowhere else to send him, the hospital discharged the blond haired child into her care.

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Naruto spent barely two months at the orphanage before a loving family came and adopted him. During his brief time there, he had taken the name Davis since no one knew his real one. He had great fun at the orphanage and got along quite well with the rest of its occupants. Despite the happy conclusion, Sara knew she would miss him and she would never stop wondering who he had been and what had happened to cause him such harm. Now, she could only hope he would find happiness.

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A brunette teenager sighed as he headed to the computer lab at his school. He knew that he was late getting to the meeting he had but his soccer practice had run over and his coach wouldn't let him leave until the end.

"Davis, you okay?" a voice asked from the blue book bag on his back.

"Yep, Veemon but I'm not looking forward to an angry Yolei." Davis answered the creature hidden in his book bag. They both knew how likely it was that the digidestined who they were meeting would listen to why he was late. Yolei especially had a bad temper and tended to be insulting when they were late.

"Where is he? He's so useless and he's always late. Why did we have to end up with him as our leader?" he heard Yolei shout.

"Probably taking his sweet time to get here." T. K. answered inside the room.

"Tai chose him as the leader. I guess he thought Davis would do a good job. Wish he did. We need a better leader than Davis. I doubt he even takes his responsibilities to the digidestined seriously." Kari added.

"That's not fair. Davis is a great leader." Ken defended his friend.

"And he takes his responsibilities very seriously. He's saved us and been there for us many times when we needed it. I thought you could see that." Cody finished, reprimanding the rest of the group who had insulted the young digidestined leader.

Davis whose eyes had filled with tears to hear the three children's insults felt warmth grow in his heart when the two remaining children defended him.

Veemon, a blue dinosaur creature who came up to Davis's knees, had wiggled out of the book bag on Davis's back when he heard Yolei. Veemon rarely got angry but hearing their friends insult his partner so badly made him angrier than he had ever been.

"Let's go in, Veemon." Davis said, avoiding eye contact with his partner.

Davis walked into the room casually with the goofy grin the other digidestined expected from him. Usually, Veemon's expression matched his partner's but today he was glaring angrily when the duo entered, specifically at Yolei, a slim purple haired girl.

"Hey, guys. What are we doing today?" Davis asked cheerfully, not noticing Veemon's glare.

"Is everything alright Veemon? Did Yolei do something to you?" the other girl in the room, Kari asked, drawing Davis's attention to his angry partner.

"No. Davis, let's go. You shouldn't have to help anyone who doesn't appreciate you." the blue dinosaur answered impulsively to Davis.

"Veemon?" he asked in surprise.

"Come on, Davis. They don't deserve your help." Veemon answered, unwilling to let them near his partner after their hurtful remarks.

"Do you need my help today?" Davis finally asked with a sigh.

"No, I think T.K., Kari, and Yolei can handle checking the digital world themselves today. There shouldn't be any problems. Right, Cody?" a black haired boy, Ken, answered, looking over at Cody, a boy with brown hair in a bowl style cut.

It took Cody a moment to understand but he finally nodded. Veemon smiled happily as the three humans and partners left, giving the rest of the group no time to argue.

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"You heard?" Ken asked, directing the question to Veemon.

"Yes," Davis answered for them, "but don't tell them."

"Why not?" Veemon asked.

"I don't want to cause any trouble in the group right now. I'll see you guys tomorrow." Davis answered as he turned into his apartment complex with his digimon partner.

Davis's thoughts wondered to what he had overheard as he took the elevator up to his apartment. It hadn't been just the words that had bothered him or even who had said them but something had happened outside that computer lab. He had flashes. For a moment, even as he heard the three children's insults, he also heard a crowd crying out in anger, calling him a demon. He had even sensed the crowd pulling their children away isolating him and suddenly felt horribly sad and lonely.

"Are you okay?" Veemon asked gently, interrupting Davis's thoughts.

"Yep, Veemon, I'm fine." Davis answered forcing a smile.

"Okay." Veemon agreed doubtfully. They both knew Davis was lying.


	3. Chapter 3

Difficult Lives

Shikamaru looked over at Neji. The blank eyed boy shook his head. Shikamaru, a black haired boy in a black fishnet shirt and black shorts, sighed know what the signal meant. He sported simple brown sandals with a belt carrying numerous pouches of throwing knives and various exploding tags carried by Konoha's ninja population. Sasuke, Kakashi, Shikamaru, Neji, Kiba, Hinata, and Gaara had started searching for Naruto only days after his disappearance.

It had been two years now and a great many things had changed. Gaara had risen to the position of Kazekage (leader) of the Sand Hidden Village. Shikamaru had reached the rank of jonin in Konoha's ninja corp. Akamaru, Kiba's ninja dog, had grown much bigger and was now as high as Kiba's chest. Hinata had even become a bit more outgoing than she had been before. Due to the circumstances, all those who had delivered news of Naruto's disappearance had been told of the Kyubi and its role in the hatred directed at Naruto all his life. Among the Rookie Nine who had been close for many years before their friend's disappearance, a rift had grown between them and Sakura. Sasuke had also changed from his experience. He became angry at the village and Sakura when he found out about the riot and ignored them all unless he had official business with them.

The mystery behind the black opening that had dragged Naruto in had been solved a month after his disappearance. With the group's help, Tsunade and Kakashi had been able to find the Anbu who had been seen running away. Interrogation revealed several answers; it turned out that the Anbu had seen Naruto and decided to use a long distance jutsu to punish the teen. One of them knew a special jutsu and tried to use it. The only problem with this is it was an Uchiha family jutsu and required the Sharingan to control it. The Anbu casting the jutsu didn't have a Sharingan so the jutsu went out of control. It actually sent Naruto to some unknown place rather than the hell dimension where the jutsu was supposed to send him. Kakashi himself had tried the jutsu and checked the dimension he was supposed to end up in and didn't find anything.

Kakashi and Sasuke had been trying this jutsu for years to try to find Naruto. Using their Sharingan they guided the jutsu to different dimensions and had found nothing. They had no idea that today would be any different.

After two years, their luck finally changed. They managed to reach a dimension where they could feel faint traces of Naruto's chakra.

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Gaara, a redhead with a tattoo meaning love on his forehead and a giant gourd on his back, woke up quickly to unfamiliar surroundings. He looked around the dimly lit alley, noting the tall buildings blocking each side and the various filled trashcans scattered around. He watched as the rest of the search party woke up as well. Shikamaru took quick note of their surroundings for intruders before turning to his companions.

"What happened?" Kiba asked, getting up.

No one had a chance to answer before their attention was drawn to the alleyway entrance. They were sensing a familiar chakra signature they hadn't felt in years. Their search had finally ended.

"Why did Yolei say those things about you? You're a great leader." a child-like voice asked from the entrance.

"I don't know. Veemon but maybe she's right." a voice that sounded very close to Naruto's answered.

"She wasn't, Davis. We wouldn't be here if she was." The child-like voice answered.

Shikamaru looked over at Neji, tilting his head to the side. His comrade nodded and headed to the alleyway entrance, ready to grab the boy when he passed.

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Davis sighed as he headed to another digidestined meeting. This time it was at Izzy's house. Izzy was one of the first digidestined. He had traveled to the digital world with Tai, Matt, Sora, Mimi, Joe, T.K., and Kari a few years before Davis and the newer members of the digidestined group, Yolei, Cody, and Ken. T.K. and Kari had been young enough on their first trip to be included in the second group. Matt and Tai were their older brothers and it was Tai, the leader of the first group, who had chosen Davis as leader of the second. He was not looking forward to the meeting after the events of yesterday but Izzy had claimed it was very important so Davis couldn't avoid it. Knowing his luck, Izzy had found them a new evil. However, Veemon had cheered him up a bit with his kind words. That good mood was ruined however when a hand reached out, covering his mouth and pulled him into an alleyway he was passing. His first sight upon turning on the culprit was pure white eyes. They had no pupils, causing Davis to gasp at the unusual sight. Thankfully, Veemon was still hidden in his book bag and was dragged in as well.

"Davis, what's wrong?' Veemon asked from inside the bag before Davis could stop him.

The reactions among the group varied. The boy who had grabbed Davis tensed as veins popped up around his eyes but they soon relaxed. The boy standing next to the largest dog Davis had ever seen outside of the digital world jumped in shock while his dog growled. The only adult in the group raised his eyebrow while the boy next to him stared intently at Davis. The redhead and a boy in a fishnet shirt didn't react but the only girl in the group had a different reaction. Her eyes widened as she asked, "Naruto?"

Davis ignored her, thinking she was talking to one of her comrades and kneeled down to open his book bag and to let Veemon out. She repeated the question as he pulled Veemon out of the small book bag.

"Stop ignoring her, you jerk!" the boy standing next to the dog shouted angrily. Davis jerked around in surprise and saw the boy glaring at him.

"She was talking to me?" Davis asked, confused.

"Of course she was, moron." the boy retorted.

"My name's Davis, not Naruto. What did you expect me to think?!" Davis shouted back.

"What is that, a summon?" the adult asked, pointing at Veemon.

"A digimon. Where have you been?" Davis answered, upset at their rudeness, "Why did you drag me in here?"

"Naruto, stop playing around," the boy in fishnets said.

"I'M NOT PLAYING! What the heck do you want?" Davis shouted.

"We want you to come back to Konoha with us." the black-haired boy next to the adult said.

"Konoha? Never mind. Sorry but I'm late for a meeting. Excuse me." Davis said, turning around and heading down the alleyway with Veemon beside him.

"How troublesome." The boy in fishnets muttered.

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The group watched Davis walk away.

"That jerk," Kiba said.

"Maybe not," Neji spoke up thoughtfully.

"With the way he acted towards Hinata, of course he's a jerk." Kiba shot back.

"Maybe not. He had no idea what we were talking about. He didn't recognize any of it. He could have amnesia." Shikamaru interjected.

Hinata gasped before turning around and running after Davis. She caught up to him just before he managed to exit the alley.

"Davis, wait. Please." She begged.

Shikamaru sighed as the travelers from Konoha followed her.

"Sorry. Just let us explain." Hinata added when she caught him.

Davis looked at her.

"Okay but I'm late for a meeting. You'll have to wait 'til after it." Davis answered.

"Then we'll go with you and wait until the meeting is over." The girl answered, happy that Davis was willing to listen to her.


	4. Chapter 4

Difficult Lives

Davis knocked on Izzy's front door.

"They're gonna kill me." He muttered as they waited.

"Yolei's going to be really mad, isn't she, Davis?" Veemon asked.

"Yeah," Davis answered as the door opened.

"Finally, Davis." a brown haired teen with spiky hair who Davis idolized, Tai, said.

"Sorry about being late. Got distracted," Davis said glancing back at the odd group with him.

"Sure." Tai said, grinning and completely oblivious to Davis's brief look behind. Davis knew exactly what he was thinking. The rest of the digidestined, except Ken and Cody, always thought the same.

He was drawn out of his thoughts when Tai asked, "Davis, I was wondering about the incident in the computer lab. It was obvious Veemon was angry at everyone. Do you know why?"

"Nope," Davis lied as calmly as he could. Izzy, another spiky brown haired teen with an interest in computers, saved him from further conversation as he entered the room.

"Finally, who are your guests and why are you late?" he asked.

"I was delayed because I met up with these guys." Davis answered, indicating the group that had followed him in. He smiled as Ken joined them.

"Hi, Davis," Ken said before he noticed the anger in Davis's eyes. He looked at the unknown people with him and gave Davis a meaningful look.

"Izzy, could you find them somewhere to stay until the meeting is over?" Davis asked, ignoring Ken's gaze.

"Sure." Izzy said and gestured for the group to follow.

"Uh. . . . Davis," Tai said unhappily, pausing as the group stopped at the door to listen. "Kari wanted to talk to you."

"Oh." Davis said softly.

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Davis followed Tai and Ken to Izzy's room after helping the Konoha group get situated.

"Talk to Kari after the meeting." Tai reminded him before they entered the room.

Davis nodded.

Everyone from the computer lab sat in a circle in the center of the room. Two other boys, one a spiky blond-haired teen with a remarkable resemblance to T.K and the other with blue hair and simple circular eyeglasses, and two other girls, one with long pink hair and another with short brown hair sat in various places around the room.

"Hey, everyone," Tai said, "Izzy found out about a new threat."

Everyone gasped at this new information.

"Gennai contacted me. Right now, he knows very little about the threat. He's looking for more but he wants us to keep an eye out when we patrol the digital world." Izzy elaborated.

Everyone nodded and started to get up but Tai stopped them by speaking up.

We're not quite done. There is another concern. We're worried about Veemon. Is he alright, Davis?"

"Yeah," Davis asked confused, "Why, Tai?"

"Nothing's wrong?" Tai asked.

"Nothing," Davis answered firmly.

"Then why did he act so badly at the computer lab and why didn't you guys stay and help us in the digital world?" Yolei countered angrily.

"Um . . . ." Davis couldn't think of what to say.

"Calm down. It's fine. Veemon was tired and we were worried so Davis took him home. We went with him to make sure they were alright. We'd do the same for any of you." Ken defended them.

"Alright," Tai agreed, accepting Ken's explanation but Yolei's glare told Davis that she didn't. The group stood up and headed towards the door now that the meeting was over. Davis wasted no time in walking over to Kari. He wanted to get this talk over with so much that he didn't notice Ken and Cody stop at the door to wait for him.

"Hi, Kari, Tai told me that you needed to talk to me." Davis said.

"Yeah, Davis, we need to tell you something." Kari said, waiting for T.K. to join them.

"We're dating." T.K. told him once he reached them.

Davis gave them a shaky smile and wished them happiness before he turned around and walked over to the door. Ken placed an arm around his shoulders as he reached them.

"Come on, let's go." Ken said and the three headed out the door.

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Gaara could feel intense anger. Most of the group knew Davis had returned before he even reached the door.

"Veemon, it was their choice and there's nothing we can do to change it," a voice Gaara recognized as the blue haired boy who had walked in during their initial arrival.

"Ken's right, calm down Veemon. At least they told me instead of dating behind my back." Davis agreed, sadly.

"But Davis-" Veemon whined.

Veemon's whine cut off as they reached the room he was in. Ken, the blue dinosaur they met with Davis, and an unfamiliar brown haired boy who looked very young, entered with him. The shorter boy had a bowl shaped haircut and wore a simple brown shirt with matching light brown trousers of who had a serious air. The two were occupied by two more strange creatures, a small green wormlike creature and a yellow and brown armadillo creature.

"Come on. We'll head to the park. You can explain everything to me there." Davis said, sharply, leaving the room. The group followed

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Davis and his entourage walked to the park. Davis's thoughts were stuck on what he had learned earlier in the day. Despite her harsh words days before, Davis still loved her and had truly hoped to convince her that he was better. It was at that moment that an image appeared in front of his eyes. He saw a pink-haired girl in a red dress with a crowd of people around her. Davis gasped as a flood of emotions followed the image. It was sadness without anger. It was more of a feeling of hopelessness. In a way, Davis was more familiar with this feeling than he had been in the past, thanks to the events in the computer lab but this hopelessness was deeper, much deeper than even the earlier events had caused.

Davis was certainly upset about how the digidestined acted towards him and depressed but he still had support. His hope was still there and that one moment when he felt true hopelessness and despair made him realize how lucky he still was.

"Davis?' he heard Veemon ask.

"Huh? Oh sorry, Veemon," Davis said, breaking from his thoughts to smile at the blue dinosaur next to him. "It just caught up, I guess." he added.

"Forget about her, Davis, she doesn't deserve you." Veemon said vehemently.

"Thanks pal," Davis answered. His gaze was drawn to Ken and Cody who had stopped to look at him with concern.

"Are you okay?" Ken asked.

"Yeah, I just realized that I haven't thanked any of you. You've stood by me and I've needed it. So, thanks." Davis finished, looking at the six allies around him.

"You're welcome." Cody answered.

"Always," Ken added.

"You're my partner." Veemon answered simply.

"Okay. Let's go." He said cheerfully and they all moved forward.

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"Alright, now, you can explain what's going on and what it has to do with me." Davis started in a better mood now than he had been as they sat on a patch of grass in the park.

"I'm sorry, Naruto. I shouldn't have hurt you. I'm sorry." the black-haired boy, who had been staring intently at Davis, burst out randomly. It had taken him only a minute to run over to Davis. For some reason, Davis was highly confused by this behavior. It didn't feel normal so everyone was surprised when he looked over and asked, "This isn't normal for him, is it?"

"No, why?" the adult asked.

"Just got the feeling it wasn't" Davis answered. With a sigh the adult walked over and dragged the intense boy back to his seat. "So, we should actually start by introducing ourselves. This is Cody, Ken, Wormmon, Armadillomon, and Veemon." Davis introduced, pointing first at the boy with the brown hair, then the blue haired blue, then the small green wormlike creature that had emerged from Ken's book bag, the yellow and brown armadillo creature next to Cody, and the blue dinosaur beside him.

"My name is Kakashi; this is Sasuke, Shikamaru, Gaara, Kiba, Akamaru, Neji, and Hinata." The adult of the group introduced himself and pointed to the intense boy, the boy wearing fishnets, the redhead, the brown haired boy next to the giant dog, the giant dog, the white eyed boy who had pulled Davis into the alley earlier, and the only girl in the group who also had the white eyed look of the boy introduced before her.

"So, what does Naruto have to do with me?" Davis asked.

Kakashi started by explaining the Kyubi and as much as he knew about Naruto's 'death.' Shikamaru and the others filled in the blanks. At the end, they explained their suspicions that Davis was in fact Naruto.

"Great but no thanks. I have enough problems. Besides, I doubt I'm this Naruto person. I'm too old. Sorry." Davis said after a minute of silence.

"We can check. If you're Naruto, you'll have the seal on your stomach." Kakashi spoke up hurriedly.

Davis looked at the Jonin warily but had no chance to reply when his cell phone went off.

"Hello?" he answered after checking the ID and seeing it was Jun.

"Davis, you need to come home . . . . right now." Jun's voice answered.

"But why Jun? Is something up?" Davis asked. The already flakey line got worse and Davis couldn't hear her response. After several unsuccessful attempts to get a response back, he gave up. He closed the cell phone and stood up. Without a word he turned to his apartment and ran.


	5. Chapter 5

Difficult Lives

Davis slowed as he reached the apartment. The door was closed and there was no sound from the apartment. That would have seemed normal if Jun wasn't home but the number form Jun's call was their home number.

"What's wrong? Is she home?" Veemon asked.

"Yes but we should've heard her by now." Davis answered.

Davis reached the door and opened it slowly. Red swirling eyes dominated his vision.

"Davis!" Veemon said indignantly as Davis dropped him. He paid little attention to the red eyes he had seen out of the corner of his eye. His indignation faded as he looked up at Davis only to see his partner standing still with his hands at his sides. Veemon stopped and looked at the owner of the eyes which happened to be a dark haired man with swirling eyes and wearing a black cloak with a red cloud on the front.

"Davis, what's wrong?" he shouted as Davis made no reaction to his cry. Davis remained silent. He just continued to stand as still as he had been since dropping his partner. Veemon gasped as he noticed Davis's eyes were blank. A steak of yellow moved across the blue dinosaur's vision just before Kakashi appeared behind Davis and placed a hand on the teen's shoulder. Veemon watched the yellowish glow coating Kakashi's hand as he placed it on Davis's shoulder. Davis jerked around and stepped back. Worried, Veemon turned his attention back to the doorway where the man had disappeared.

"What was that?!" Davis shouted.

"U . . . . . U . . . . . . Um . . . . ." Veemon heard from behind him. He easily recognized Hinata's voice.

Davis waited and then seemed to realize something.

"Mom, Dad, Jun!" he shouted and ran into the house. Veemon followed the brunette, just as worried as his partner.

Jun lay next to the phone. Davis checked for a pulse and smiled when he found one. He moved to the living room where he found his parents and repeated the same process. He was lucky. He ran over to the phone and dialed 911. With his family taken care of, he turned his attention to the ninja group and directed them to his room while Veemon jumped into Davis's backpack.

Davis rode in the ambulance with Jun who had a gash on her temple. With no visible injuries on his parents, Davis had decided to go with Jun. It was a short and bumpy ride.

Davis's parents woke soon after they reached the hospital. Jun didn't.

The next few weeks proved hard for Davis. He really cared about Jun and hated to see her hurt, especially when they weren't sure how. He was depressed and easily distracted but his teachers didn't call him on it.

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Davis sighed as he heard his mom.

"Davis, Tai's on the phone." She shouted up to him.

Davis shouted down an agreement and answered the phone.

"Hey, Davis, how ya doing?" Tai asked cheerfully.

"Fine," Davis answered wearily.

"Um . . . . . yeah. We have a digidestined meeting. Think you can come?" Tai asked less cheerfully.

"Sure." Davis answered.

"It's okay if you don't want to." Tai said gently.

"I'll come." Davis responded.

"Alright, just wanted to make sure. Head over to Izzy's. We'll start when ya get here." Tai answered and the two hung up.

Davis grabbed his house keys, his digivice, and Veemon. He ran out the door, telling his mom where he was going as he left.

It didn't take him long to reach the apartment. He noted the grim expression on Tai's face when the elder leader opened the door. The two walked into the living room where the meeting would take place silently.

"Gennai's confirmed it. We have a new enemy. It attacked and destroyed a digimon village." Tai said, standing up.

Many of the group gasped.

"That's two enemies." Ken added sadly.

"Huh?" the room's occupants questioned.

"The person who hurt Davis's family and tried to do something to Davis." Ken answered.

"We have two enemies. One on both sides. For now, be careful here. Don't try to fight this enemy. That ends this meeting." Tai said, sitting down.

As everyone gathered their things, Davis's cell phone rang. He picked it up with the same lack of enthusiasm he usually had these days.

"Hey, wh-" he started.

"Davis, come to the hospital. She's awake!" his mom interrupted. Davis didn't even bother to ask. He told her that he would be there soon and hung up the phone. Everyone was happy when a smile grew on his face again. They hadn't seen it in weeks.

"Hey, can someone take me to the hospital? Jun's awake!" Davis asked happily.

Matt agreed to do so and everyone congratulated Davis as the two digidestined headed out the door.

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When they reached the hospital, Davis ran in. After getting Jun's room number, he went to see her. His headlong rush into the room only ended with him hugging Jun tightly. Luckily, Veemon had jumped onto Jun's bed before Davis's arm had reached around Jun.

Jun herself looked surprised to have her brother hugging her. She saw Matt over his shoulder and smiled.

"Hey, bro, you can let go. The doctors already promised that I wouldn't collapse again but I don't think that'll hold up without air." Jun gasped out.

"Oh, sorry, Jun," Davis said, letting go. The fact that he didn't add a biting retort at the end surprised everyone but Veemon. "You scared me, Jun." he added sincerely.

Jun smiled and held out her hands to her brother. Davis went into them gladly.

"What happened, Jun?" Matt asked.

"It was that red-eyed guy, wasn't it?" Davis asked softly.

"Well, yeah. That's the one who hurt Mom and Dad. This shark guy went after me. He forced me to call you and then knocked me out." Jun answered.

"What was he looking for?" Davis asked shakily.

"Something they called the Nine-Tails. They also made a reference to some demon but they might have been the same thing." Jun responded, looking at her brother worriedly.

"But why would they be after Davis? It's not like he's anything special." Matt wondered, not paying attention to the last part as he said it.

Jun looked appalled. Davis noticed her open mouth and gestured for her silence. She looked at him like he had grown an extra head. Davis, who had merely hidden his hurt expression at the comment, ignored the look. He'd never tell anyone but seeing Jun outraged on his behalf made him feel better.

"I don't know, Matt. I can't think of anything they would want from me. I mean, I'm not even important?" Davis answered, giving Matt another chance.

"Yeah, seriously," Matt responded.

Jun couldn't take it anymore. She burst.

"HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT ABOUT MY BROTHER!? IF THIS IS WHAT YOU SAY ABOUT HIM, I DON'T WANT TO KNOW HOW YOU TREAT HIM! Now, GET OUT AND STAY OUT!" Jun shouted at Matt. She would have extended the shouting but she needed to talk to Davis, so she satisfied herself with that.

Matt left quickly, unwilling to incur her further wrath. Davis shrunk back as Matt left with a very confused expression.

"Thanks, Jun, now I have to think about an excuse for your problem with Matt. It's bad enough having to do the same for Veemon's problem with them." Davis whined.

"Problem? Why should you have to give them an excuse? Matt is one who needs an excuse. Do all of the digidestined act that way towards you?" Jun asked softly in a dangerous voice.

"Well, I caught some of them insulting me a few weeks ago. Veemon got mad but I asked him to keep it quiet. They don't know that I heard them and I don't want them too. At least not yet," Davis answered.

"Why, Davis? You don't deserve that. None of the digidestined should be allowed to do this to you." Jun asked.

"Because we have a new enemy in the digiworld. We need to work together now to save the worlds." Davis explained.

"I'm proud of you, Davis. Most wouldn't be strong enough." Jun said with a smile. "Through it could just be that you're too thickheaded." She added jokingly.

"Glad to know what you think about me." Davis answered sarcastically. "But that does mean a lot. Is it safe to assume your Matt stalking days are over?" he asked.

"Yeah, don't know what I saw in that jerk. Now, what about Kari? Any luck getting her?" Jun asked, suspecting the answer.

"No. She and T.K. are dating now. I don't care anymore. Rea-" Davis started but the headlong rush of Ken, Cody, and their digimon interrupted him.

"Jun! You're okay. That's gre-" Ken started but his expression fell.

"Confused, Davis followed his downcast gaze to Jun, who looked livid. It took him a moment to realize why.

"Wait, Jun. They didn't. They defended me." Davis informed her quickly.

Her anger faded and she directed a smile at the newcomers.

"Hey, Davis, we met Matt on the way out. He seemed very confused. What did you say to him?" Ken asked.

"I didn't say anything. He insulted me while he was here. Jun got a bit upset and yelled at him." Davis answered with a sigh.

"Davis who was behind the attack on your family?" Cody asked directly the conversation away from the other digidestined.

"That red-eyed guy that I met at the door and a guy with shark features," Davis answered.

"So those are our ne-" Cody started.

"Wait! You met the red-eyed man?!" Jun interrupted.

"Yeah, after you called, I rushed over. We were at the park so it didn't take long. Met the guy at the door," Davis answered, slightly uneasy.

"We?" Jun asked suspiciously.

"Yeah. Me, Davis, Neji, Gaara, Ka-" Veemon started but stopped as Davis glared at him.

"Neji, Gaara?" Jun asked curiously.

"Yeah, I met them the day of the attack. They . . . . um . . . . kinda . . . . believe that I'm this friend of theirs." Davis answered nervously.

"Yo-Yo-You're J-Jun?" a shy voice asked from the doorway. Davis mentally sighed as he recognized it. Turning around, he saw Hinata, just as he expected. He was actually surprised to see only Neji, Sasuke, and Kakashi behind her.

"Yes." Jun answered, glancing at the girl than returning her glare to Davis.

"Jun meet Neji, Hinata, Sasuke, and Kak-" Davis started but he was interrupted again by his cell phone which reported an incoming call from T.K.

Davis answered it unhappily.

"Yes, T.K.?" he asked.

"Hi, Davis, I just heard from Matt. What's Jun's problem?" T.K. asked.

"Um . . . . Jun's . . . . um . . . ." Davis tried. He trailed off and before he could start again, Jun grabbed the phone.

"Hello, T.K." Jun said in a deceptively sweet voice. Davis heard T.K. mumble out a greeting. "I'm so glad to hear from you. I was wondering about something." Jun continued. Davis heard T.K. said something cheerfully. He cringed. He knew what was coming and everyone else except the ninja in the room knew as well. "HOW CAN YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS INSULT MY BROTHER IN HIS HEARING OR OUT OF IT AND ACT LIKE HE'S YOUR FRIEND?! HOW CAN YOU TREAT HIM AND HIS FEELINGS SO BADLY AND NOT EVEN CARE?!" Jun shouted. Davis heard T.K. stammer out an answer a second later but he was interrupted when a nurse moved into the room.

"What's going on in here?" the nurse demanded.

"Just talking to a friend of my brother's," Jun responded sweetly.

"You need to be quieter. There are other patients here." The nurse scolded.

"Alright, sorry, I'll be quieter." Jun responded. This satisfied the nurse and she left. Jun closed the cell phone nonchalantly.

"You were saying, Davis?" Jun asked as if nothing had happened.

"Um . . . . Jun? Remember what I mentioned earlier? It's-" Davis started.

"It'll be fine, Davis. Not like they took you seriously before anyway, right?" Jun interrupted.

"She's right, Davis." Veemon lisped.

Three digivices went off before Davis could answer. They checked them. It was an e-mail from Tai. Their digital enemy had shown itself.

"Sorry, Jun, we need to head to the digital world." Davis said, already heading for the door with Ken, Cody, and their digimon following.

"Be careful." Jun said as the three digidestined left.


	6. Chapter 6

Difficult Lives

The digidestined met at the school's digiport.

"Ready everyone?" Tai asked.

"Yes. Let's go." Davis said with nods all around. The digidestined headed through the port.

The digidestined exited the digiport into a barren land. The area was charged with a residual blue energy obscuring the landscape. It was due to this blur that the children missed seeing their enemy behind them. Their surroundings became even more obscure than before after they heard a voice call out an attack.

"Hurry, everyone. Digivolve," Tai shouted.

The digidestined started to but before they could finish, they heard the enemy shout, "Bring to Light." Davis couldn't move away fast enough and the attack hit him straight on.

"DAVIS!" Veemon shouted as his partner collapsed. Ken ran toward the fallen young child of courage and dragged him out of range of the fight.

As soon as the attack had hit Davis, the digidestined had attacked. The fight became more furious as the digidestined noticed their leader and friend fall. Ken waited patiently beside Davis as his digimon shielded them from any stray attacks.

Meanwhile, Davis remembered. He remembered memories that had long since been hidden. He remembered a different life.

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Davis ran through dark streets. He knew they were chasing him. Just as he knew he didn't want to be caught. The eight-year-old cried softly as he ran wondering why his pursuers hated him so much. He turned a corner and his heart filled with despair. He had reached a dead end. They would catch him for sure. He had no escape.

"The demon. Hurt the demon!" the crowd of adults shouted as they finally caught up with him. They wasted no time in kicking and punching the poor child.

"Why? Please, stop!" the boy cried, hoping it would work. It didn't. The crowd continued and their attacks became more furious at his plea.

Davis sobbed harder as the blows rained down with no better understanding of why he deserved it. After all, he wasn't a demon, right?

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Davis stood in the middle of a bare classroom. Two men stood at the table in front of him. They watched him, waiting. They were waiting for him to show them his cloning skills. He wasn't sure how he knew this but he did.

"Bunshin no Jutsu." He shouted as he formed hand seals that he subconsciously knew. Even as he felt the familiar warmth of his chakra flowing through his body, he knew the technique would fail. He couldn't stop himself from turning, even as he dreaded what he would find. A collapsed blond boy, a clone as his mind informed him, in bright orange pants and a shirt with an odd black swirl on it. Goggles held back his spiky blond locks and the bright blue eyes were drooped in exhaustion. Davis knew the word, even before he heard it.

"Fail!" the man on the left side of the table informed him.

"Iruka, we could let him pass. This is his third time and he did technically create a clone." The second man at the table defended him. Davis waited for Iruka's answer hopefully. He was disappointed.

"No way Mizuki. Everyone else divided into 3 but Naruto only created one and it was a useless one." Iruka answered firmly. "I can't let him pass." Davis heard as an anger he didn't realize he had flared up but he held it back.

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Davis watched all the ninja graduates and their families. He watched enviously, knowing that he had neither their success nor family that he knew of. He let his head droop as he heard a conversation about him between two of the adults.

"Hey, that kid . . . ."

"Yeah, that's 'the' kid and he's the only one who failed."

"Well, that's good."

"We can't have him becoming a ninja."

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Davis was surprised to hear a voice call him from behind as he walked back to his apartment from the academy.

"Mizuki-sensei!" he exclaimed in surprise as he turned around.

"I want to talk to you. Do you mind?" the grey haired teacher asked.

"No." Davis answered and they moved up to a balcony where the teacher sat on the edge of it and Davis followed suit.

"Iruka is a serious person, his parents were killed when he was young and he's had to do everything himself." Mizuki started the conversation.

"But why does he only pick on me?" Davis whined.

Mizuki looked over at him.

"He probably sees himself in you." Davis looked at him in surprise. "He's probably thinking he wants you to become strong in the real way. Try to understand Iruka's feeling since he also has no parents." Mizuki finished.

Davis paused. " . . . . But I wish I had graduated."

Mizuki looked over and smiled, "I'll tell you a special secret."

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Davis sat, battered and bruised in a clearing. He had a large scroll on his back. He was laughing softly.

"I've found you . . . . Hey!" Iruka exclaimed above him.

Davis didn't stand up as a mischievous thought grew inside him as he thought about his accomplishment. Finally, he jumped up, shouting, "Oh! I found the nose bleeder!"

"Idiot! I found you!" Iruka shouted back.

Davis didn't mind. He grinned and placed a hand behind his head.

"Hehehe, you found me. I've only learned one skill." Davis admitted.

"Hey. You're all beaten up, what were you doing?" Iruka asked.

"Never mind that, hey, hey?! I'm going to try an incredible skill. If I do it . . . . Let me graduate!" Davis shouted.

"Naruto," Iruka started as Davis got into position, "where did you get that scroll on your back?"

"Oh, this? Mizuki-sensei told me about it and about this place too." Davis answered, "He said if I showed you this skill, I'd definitely graduate!"

Davis was caught by surprise when he felt Iruka push him to the side without warning. He briefly saw the kunai flying past the place he had been and pinning Iruka to a wall of a shed in the clearing.

"Nice job in finding him." a voice said from high in the surrounding trees.

"I see, so that's what's going on." Iruka realized.

Davis just stood at the edge of the clearing, completely confused.

"Naruto, give me the scroll!" Mizuki shouted at him.

"Hey! Hey! What's going on here?!" Davis cried.

"Naruto! Don't give him the scroll even if you die!" Iruka shouted, having pulled himself from his pinned position. "That is a dangerous scroll that has forbidden ninjutsu sealed within it. Mizuki used you in order to get his hands on it!"

Davis glared at Mizuki who looked unconcerned.

"Naruto, there's no point in having it. I'll tell you the truth." Mizuki finally said with a grin.

"N-No! Don't!" Iruka shouted frantically.

"Twelve years ago, you know about the demon fox being sealed right?" Mizuki asked.

_Sealed? Kakashi mentioned something about that, didn't he?_ A distant part of Davis's mind asked as the memory continued to play out.

"Since that incident, a new rule was created for this village." Mizuki continued.

"A rule?!" Davis asked.

"But, Naruto. This rule was never meant to be told to you."

"Not to me? What is this rule? Why?" Mizuki laughed. "What kind of rule is it?" Davis asked warily.

"The rule is that nobody is allowed to talk about the fact that you are the demon fox." Mizuki finished.

"What do you mean?" Davis demanded.

"Stop it!" Iruka shouted.

"It means that you are the nine-tailed demon that killed Iruka's parents and destroyed the village." Davis froze in shock as his emotions erupted into turmoil.

"I-I'm the demon fox? I can't be, can I?" Davis wondered in disbelief.

"You were sealed by the Hokage you admire and –" Mizuki started again.

"Stop it!" Iruka interrupted even though he knew it was too late.

"You have been lied to by everyone! Didn't you find it odd how everyone hated you? Iruka is the same! He actually hates you!" Mizuki shouted as he swirled a large kunai in his hand to throw.

Davis heard someone shout his name, breaking him from his shock. The ground erupted in a complete circle around his feet.

"Nobody will ever accept you!" Mizuki shouted gleefully. "That scroll was used to seal you up!"

Davis didn't even see the giant kunai flying at him but Iruka did. He jumped on top of Davis taking the kunai in his back. Davis's mind shut down again in shout and all he could do was ask Iruka, "Why . . . . ?"

"My parents, after they died, there was nobody to compliment me or acknowledge me. I was so sad. I would always act like an idiot to get people's attention. Since I was able to do well in things like school and get attention that way. It was better than doing nothing. So I kept acting like an idiot. It was so painful . . . . Yeah. Naruto, you must have been in a lot of pain too." Iruka gasped with blood and tears dripping down on the boy beneath him. "I'm so sorry, Naruto, if I had done a better job. You wouldn't have had to feel like this."

Davis's eyes widened. He turned away and ran out of the clearing. Iruka still hadn't risen from his crouched position.

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Davis stood behind a tree. He heard Iruka get knocked down by Mizuki. Both fell, Mizuki landed on the ground and Iruka landed against a tree trunk.

"How did you know I wasn't Iruka?" Mizuki asked as he dispelled his hinge.

"I'm Iuka." Iuka responded, dispelling his own henge as well.

"I see . . . ." Mizuki responded with a disappointed smirk. "Hehehe . . . . You'd even transform into what killed your parents to protect him?"

"I won't hand the scroll over to an idiot like you!" Iruka retorted.

"You're the idiot. Naruto and I are the same." Mizuki said.

"The same?" Iruka questioned. Davis felt angry at the comparison but he held it back and listened to the two men.

"If you use skills in that scroll, you can do whatever you want. There's no way that demon fox wouldn't try to use the power. Unlike what you're assuming." Mizuki stated.

"Yeah-" Iruka responded.

Davis was stricken. _Damn . . . . I knew it . . . . See . . . . doesn't acknowledge me._

"The demon fox would do that but Naruto is different. He is . . . . I've acknowledged him as one of my excellent students. He may not be the hardest worker and he's clumsy so nobody accepts him. He already knows what it is to feel pain in your heart. He isn't the demon fox anymore. He is a member of the Hidden Leaf Village, he's Naruto Uzumaki!" Davis heard Iruka declare to his utter surprise. His eyes filled with tears as the scene between Iruka and Mizuki continued on, both still seemingly unaware of his presence.

"Ok, whatever." Mizuki started, pausing as Iruka cringed in pain. "Iruka, I said I would take care of you later but I'm changing my mind. Hurry up and die!" Mizuki finished, rushing toward the defenseless teacher.

Davis jumped out, knocking into Mizuki and sending the new giant kunai he had pulled out flying away.

"You should not have done that." Mizuki stated, getting up from his face plant in the ground.

"Don't touch, Iruka-sensei. I'll kill you!" Davis said menacingly.

"Run away! You idiot! Why did you come out?!" Iruka shouted from behind him.

"Shut up! Punk like you, I'll kill you in one shot." Mizuki shouted back.

"Try it trash! I'll return the pain a thousand times over!" Davis shouted, moving his fingers in to a cross position.

"Then do it, demon fox!" Mizuki challenged.

Naruto responded with a "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," forming around a thousand clones.

"Wha-?! What's going on?" Mizuki shouted as he stumbled. The clones surrounded him.

"What's wrong? Come at me! Weren't you going to kill me in one shot? Well then . . . . I'll start things off!"

A few moments later, Mizuki lay beaten on the ground and the clones dispersed.

"Hehe. . . . I went a little too far." Davis said sheepishly looking down at the beaten Mizuki.

Iruka grinned and said, "Naruto, come over here. There's something I want to give you."

A moment later, Davis felt a headband like the ones granted the academy graduates, a symbol of his success on his forehead. He couldn't hold himself back when Iruka suggested celebrating at his favorite restaurant. He jumped onto Iruka in a clingy hug.


	7. Chapter 7

Difficult Lives

Davis was sitting on a rooftop with a pink-haired girl and a black-haired boy. A silver-haired man in ninja gear stood in front of him.

"Ok. . . . Let's begin with some introductions." The man said to the group.

"What do you want to know?" the girl asked.

"How about . . . . your likes, dislikes, dreams for the future, hobbies, stuff like that." The man said with a shrug.

"Hey, hey, why don't you introduce yourself to us first?!" Davis demanded.

"Yeah . . . . You look suspicious." The girl added.

"Ohh . . . . Me? My name is Kakashi Hatake. I have no desire to tell you guys about my likes and dislikes. Dream for the future . . . . ? hmm . . . . Well, I have lots of hobbies." The silver-haired man introduced.

"So . . . . all we learned is his name?" the girl asked as the three young students looked at each other in irritation.

"Now, it's your turn, from the right." Kakashi continued.

That meant they were starting with Davis. "Me! Me! My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I like ramen! What I like even more is the restaurant ramen Iruka-sensei buys me. What I dislike is waiting three minutes for the ramen to cook. My dream is to surpass the Hokage! And then have all the people of the village acknowledge my existence! Hobbies . . . . Pranks, I guess." Davis said enthusiastically.

"Next."

It was the black-haired boy's turn next. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha. There are tons of things I dislike but I don't really like anything. And . . . I don't want to use the word 'dream' but . . . . I have an ambition. The resurrection of my clan and to kill a certain man."

_He better not mean me._ Davis thought.

"Ok. And lastly, the girl," Kakashi stated.

"I'm Sakura Haruno; the thing I like is . . . . well . . . . the person I like is . . . . umm . . . . should I say my dream for the future . . . . ? Oh my!" she shouted. Everyone could tell she had a crush on Sasuke, considering the side glances she had been shooting the boy as she talked about what, or rather who, she liked. "The thing I dislike is Naruto." Sakura added to her introduction with a murderous look at said blond. His subconscious shuddered. "My hobbies . . . . " she trailed off.

"Ok! That's enough of that. We will . . . . " Kakashi said as the memory faded around Davis.

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Davis stood in a circular arena. Trees and earth were spread all around it and the sunlight streamed from the large opening at the top. In front of him, stood a teenager dressed in a dark shirt, light pants, a headband with a swirl symbol like the one Davis had been given signaling his status as an academy graduate, and black sandals. His eyes were the main difference, they had no pupils.

An adult in longer pants but wearing the same headband as his opponent stood in the middle of the two teens, waiting.

"Looks like you have something to say." His opponent who was a younger version of Neji said with a smirk.

Davis, who had been standing with narrowed eyes and a downturned smile before, felt a calmness sweep over a heated anger and hatred he felt upon seeing this arrogant boy.

"I told you before, you're definitely going down." Davis stated, raising a fist straight in front of him towards Neji. He didn't move forward. This was a threat, not an attack.

"Now, the first fight! Begin!" the adult between them said, moving out of the way.

"Hehe . . . . That's what makes it worthwhile. It'll be fun to watch you fall apart when you discover reality." Neji said.

"Stop all the blabbering! Let's fight!" Davis responded with excitement.

Neji stood in the Hyuga family style fight style, called the gentle fist. Veins bulged around Neji's eyes.

_'They are called the opening points. Basically if you press them correctly you can stop your opponent's flow of chakra.'_ Davis remembered Kakashi tell him. 'So basically if I get too close, he'll press my points and I won't be able to use chakra. So I'll have to fight from a distance.' Davis thought.

His plan made, Davis held up his hands into a cross symbol much like he had with Mizuki, surprising Neji.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he shouted and four clones of him popped up around him. Four of the blonds pulled out a kunai.

Neji scowled.

"But in the end there's only one true body." Neji stated confidently a moment later.

"Heh, stop acting tough." One of the clones scoffed.

"If you're e gonna come, then come." Neji answered.

"Hey . . . ." "stop" "disrespecting" "me!" four of the clones said, rushing at Neji. One hung back.

Neji jumped over two of the blonds and bashed their heads together. He landed between two more of the blonds as a shout of "Now!" rang out. Landing, the Hyuga started to spin, knocking the two blonds, who had been closing on him from different sides, back. The two behind him rushed up but he grabbed the arms which were carrying kunai and pushed them up to uppercut the two blonds. Turning swiftly, he threw each one back with the palms of his hands.

'This guy . . . . does he have eyes on the back of his head . . . . ?' Davis wondered as his clones puffed out in smoke.

" . . . . Become Hokage . . . . eh? It's impossible with that. I can figure out with these eyes. Talent is decided at your birth. You could say that everything is decided when a person is born." Neji stated calmly.

"WHY THE HELL DO YOU ALWAYS AUTOMATICALLY DECIDE THINGS LIKE THAT!?" Davis shouted.

"Then . . . . are you saying that anyone can become Hokage through hard work? Only a handful of ninja are chosen as Hokage. Look closer at reality! Those that become Hokage are born into that destiny. You don't become it by trying. It is decided by destiny. People must live within their own unchangeable flow. Only one . . . . the only destiny that every person shares is death." Neji explained.

A small part of him was surprised by this strange attitude which was so different than the Neji he had come to know outside the memories.

"SO WHAT?! I'M NOT GOOD AT GIVING UP!" Davis shouted as he made more clones, a lot more.

"I'm not stupid. I already see your attack pattern." Neji responded without concern, ignoring Davis's outburst.

"BAH! I told you to stop automatically deciding things!" Davis shouted angrily. All the clones rushed Neji who fought against the masses, moving straight to where he thought Davis's true body to be. His target was a blond at the fringes.

"Fearing having your points pressed. One body is doing the least amount of attacking. The more you attack the clearer it becomes." Neji stated as he pressed a point on his target.

Davis folded, blood pouring from his mouth, still standing.

"That's why I told you it was useless." Neji added.

"Hehe . . . . That's why I told you to stop automatically deciding things." Davis stated as the blood stopped flowing and he lifted his head. The clone vanished in a puff of smoke.

"What?!" Neji exclaimed. He turned with a "no way!" as two more of the blonds came at him.

"I'm coming at you with everything I got and already prepared to die!" Davis shouted.

The two clones connected with Neji and Davis gave an excited mental 'yes.' His excitement changed to confusion as Neji spun his body so quickly that wind blew around him, repelling both of Davis's clones. Neji stopped spinning as the clones vanished in a puff of smoke.

"You thought you had won?" Neji asked with a smirk.

"Damn." Davis swore.

"It's over. You are within range of my Hakke." He continued, moving into a crouched position. Neji moved forward. Two hands pressed chakra points on Davis's body with lightning speed. "Hakke Two Hands!" Neji shouted at the same time. He continued doubling the number as the hands moved faster, hitting more and more points in a shorter amount of time.

Davis grunted with each assault but barely held his ground. Davis finally flew back as Neji finished with 64 hands.

"I have hit 64 points on your body. You can no longer stand." Neji stated.

Davis ignored the boy as he pushed himself up, battered and bruised. It wasn't easy.

"Heh . . . . Is it painful? Stay on your knees before a power you cannot change and realize your worthlessness. Having your dreams come true through hard work is an illusion." Neji said scornfully as Davis continued his struggle to stand up.

_Damn it . . . . damn it._ Davis thought as he remembered Lee's battered body and Hinata's pain filled body.

He felt the laughter bubbling up as Neji asked, "What . . . . ?" in confusion.

"I told you. I'm not good at giving up . . . . !" Davis finally answered having managed to stand up.

"Quit already . . . . continuing won't change anything. I have no grudge against you." Neji said his surprise over or so he thought.

"S-Shut up! Well . . . . I do!" Davis shouted.

Neji said nothing for a moment. Finally, he asked, "What do you mean?"

"Why . . . . Why if you're this strong? Why with those eyes that can see everything . . . . did you mentally attack Hinata, who was trying so hard?" Davis asked.

"That's none of your business." Neji responded with narrowed eyes.

"Insulting Hinata, automatically deciding she's a loser! Main family . . . . branch . . . . I don't know what the hell happened . . . . but pieces of shit like you who call other people losers . . . . . I will never forgive!" Davis shouted.

"All right. Fine . . . . if you're gonna go that far, then I'll tell you the Hyuga's destiny of hatred. The Hyuga main family has a special ninjutsu that's been passed down. It's a curse seal jutsu." Neji responded.

"Curse seal jutsu?"

"The curse of the mark represents 'a bird in a cage.' It is . . . . the symbol of being tied down to an inescapable destiny." Neji explained as he took off his headband.

"W-What?" Davis asked. On Neji's forehead was a plus sign with lines running adjacent to it and half-circles at the end of each adjacent line. Two lines with curls on the inner ends formed across his forehead away from the symbol.

"That mark is . . . ." Davis started.

"One day when I was four . . . . I had this horrible seal carved into my forehead through that curse seal jutsu. That day, a grand ceremony was taking place in the Leaf. A ninja leader from the Cloud country, which had been warring with the Leaf for many years, had arrived to sign an alliance treaty. But at this ceremony which everyone attended, from jonin to genin, one clan was missing. That was the Hyuga clan; because, that was the important day that the Hyuga heir turned three, Hinata-sama's third birthday. My father, Hizashi Hyuga, and Hinata-sama's father over there, Hiashi-sama Hyuga, were twins. But Hinata-sama's father was born to the world first. A member of the main family and my father, the second son, became a member of a branch family. When the Hyuga first daughter grew and became three, I was turned into the bird in the cage through this curse as a Hyuga branch family member."

"Why . . . . is that necessary . . . . ? Why do you need that weird mark to distinguish the main and branch families?" Davis interrupted.

"This mark on my forehead is not simply a decoration." Neji continued. "This curse seal is the absolute fear of death given to the branch families by the main family. With a simple secret hand seal, the branch members mind can be easily destroyed. Death is just as easy of course and this curse will only disappear after death sealing up the ability of the Byakugan along with it. The Hyuga house is a clan that holds great advanced blood. Those that go after those secrets are incalculable. So, with this jutsu the branch family is allowed to live only to protect the main family. No disobedience is allowed by the main family. It's an effective system, created to eternally protect the advanced Byakugan blood of the Hyuga and that incident occurred," Neji paused; sadness and grief had entered his voice at last. Anger was pushed into the next words. " . . . . my father was killed by the main family.

One night, Hinata-sama was taken by someone. Then Hiashi-sama quickly took care of it and killed him. It was dark and he was wearing a mask. Who do you think it was?" Neji asked. He continued when Davis didn't answer, "He was the Cloud country ninja leader who had signed the alliance treaty. It became clear that he was after the Hyuga secrets from the beginning but the Cloud County, with one of their leaders killed in the failed plan made demands of the Leaf for breaking the alliance. Of course, the Cloud and Leaf bickered back and forth. It almost came to war. But with the Leaf wanting to avoid war, they made a back door deal with the Cloud."

"Deal?" Davis asked.

"The Cloud wanted the Hyuga main family's advanced blood and the Byakugan, they demanded the corpse of Hiashi-sama and the Leaf agreed to their wishes. And war was safely avoided, thanks to my dad, who was killed by the main family to replace Hiashi Hyuga's corpse. To escape this horrible curse, there's no method but death." Neji finished. "They were twins their strength was virtually the same. Born first, born second. Destiny was decided by that and this fight . . . . your destiny was decided the moment that I became your opponent."

Davis scowled.

"Your destiny is to lose to me. There's no doubt." Neji stated.

"We won't know until it's over!" Davis answered, "I don't know how much it hurt that your dad was killed a long time ago, but thinking that destiny is all decided because of that is a huge mistake!" Davis finished as Neji returned his headband to where it had been.

"You're hopeless." Neji said and rushed at the blond. He pushed Davis, who hadn't been prepared for this strike back. "Examiner, it's over." Neji said and turned to walk away. He had started walking away, calling Davis a loser.

"D-don't run away . . . ." Davis stated as he got up shakily. Neji turned around. "I won't run. *cough* I don't go back on my word . . . ."

"Heh . . . . I've heard that before." Neji answered with a smirk.

"There's no way I'll lose to a coward whose always whining about destiny."

"An ignorant brat like you shouldn't be lecturing. People are born burdened with a destiny they cannot oppose. You could never understand what it's like to be burdened with a symbol you could never rid yourself of!" Neji shouted.

"Yeah . . . . I can and so what? Stop acting cool, you're not the only one that's special. Hinata too . . . . she's suffered as much as you. A member of the main family . . . . but not acknowledged, trying her best to change herself. Thinking that as she was coughing blood fighting you! You're the same! The branch family is supposed to protect the main family, yet doing that to Hinata . . . . In truth, you are trying your hardest to disobey destiny." Davis responded passionately.

"Heh . . . . your 64 opening points are closed. You won't be able to use chakra for a while, how can you fight?" Neji asked Davis's battered and bloody form. "In the end, you and Hinata-sama share the same destiny!"

"Shut up! Stop using the Byakugan to decide and act like you know everyone's destiny!" Davis shouted in rage.

"Then prove to me that what you are saying is correct." Neji responded.

"Yeah! I'm definitely going to defeat you and prove that!" Davis answered but even as he said it, his thoughts were bleak. _Damn it! But I can't feel any chakra . . . . ! Feels like when I used it all during the training . . . . ! 'You have two types of chakra. You have to learn how to pull out this other huge chakra that's sleeping within you and use it.'_ He remembered Jiraiya say. _The Nine-tails chakra. Stupid fox . . . . Lend me your power . . . . !_ Davis finally thought to the demon inside of him.

"Enough talking, examiner. . . . I'm going to go at him intending to kill! If you want to stop it then go ahead." Neji finally said, calmly.

The examiner made no move to do so.

_I can't lose this time!_ Davis thought as he made a hand seal and laughed.

"It's useless. Your points have been pressed." Neji answered with a smirk.

_I must_ . . . . Davis thought, remembering his promise to Hinata and Lee's comment's to him before the green clothed teen's fight against Gaara.

"Can I ask you one thing . . . . ? Why do you go against your destiny so much?" Neji asked curiously while Davis waited for the chakra.

"Because I was called a loser." Davis answered as he finally felt the nine-tails chakra. Tendrils of red chakra reminiscent of fox tails formed around the blond. "Here I Come!" Davis shouted.

Neji had his hand up in a block but even though one eye, his shock was obvious.

_Incredible power, like during the training but more._ Davis thought as the chakra finished wrapping around him. Davis was ready to fight. He quickly disappeared and reappeared in the air behind Neji, chakra still wrapped around him. Neji started spinning in his ultimate defense, throwing star out as he did. Davis dodged them, still coming after Neji.

Neji stopped spinning as Davis perched briefly on a wall. Both boys pulled out a kunai and lunged at each other. The kunai hit each other and flew apart as the boys were thrown back by their force.

"Hey! You're confident in close combat, right?" Davis asked. He got no response but ran at the Hyuga, his rage increasing as he remembered Neji's earlier comments about his dream. The ground broke as Davis passed.

"I don't know about the Hyuga destiny of hatred or whatever but if it's too much for you, then you don't have to do anything anymore. When I become Hokage, I'll change the Hyuga!" Davis promised as Neji's chakra defense and Davis's force collided. The dust cloud obscured Davis's vision as he flew backwards.

"Loser. Sorry but . . . . this is reality." He heard Neji say from above him. He knew that Neji had seen his clone in the hole. Therefore, Neji was completely surprised when Davis pushed through the ground and into Neji's chin. Neji flew back and he didn't stand back up. Davis ignored the blood flowing from his fingers as he walked over to Neji.

"Ugh . . . . To quickly use Kage Bunshin in that situation. Your main ninjutsu, eh? How careless of me . . . . " Neji gasped out.

"I-I failed the academy graduation exam three times. That's because unluckily for me, the ninjutsu test on the final exam was always decided as– always decided as my weakest jutsu." Davis answered. "The Bunshin was my worst ninjutsu. Destiny can't be changed, blah, blah. Stop whining about stupid crap like that. Since you're not a loser like me." Davis clarified. He knew that memory was ending as the examiner announced, "Winner, Naruto Uzumaki!"


	8. Chapter 8

Difficult Lives

Davis had no time to think as he jumped off of a high surface. He landed on a hard surface a few yards away. It was a giant raccoon-like creature. Davis had no time to worry about this oddity as he was more concerned about his mission to wake Gaara who lay sleeping in the raccoon's head.

"Wake up." Davis shouted. The surface he had just left which belonged to a big green toad wearing a big katana slammed into the raccoon. Gaara remained asleep so Davis upon reaching the teen half sticking out of the raccoon's forehead punched him. Davis was pushed back by the force of his own punch and the creature's thrashing but he got up and rushed forward to try again. He was stopped by his feet starting to sink into creature. Seeing the danger, the toad grabbed Davis with his giant tongue. Unfortunately, his ally had to release Davis back onto the creature who immediately wrapped tendrils of sand around his feet.

"What the . . . . ?" he questioned as the still sleeping Gaara cried, "What kind of . . . ." It didn't take long for Davis to figure out that Gaara's voice was being used as a medium by the raccoon. He was worried. He was running out of chakra, fast. It was only with the thought of the pink haired girl, Sakura, from one of the previous memories and what losing the fight would cost her that gave him the strength to continue.

"You will be killed by me. My existence will not disappear." The creature said through Gaara.

_ I need to think of a way to defeat this raccoon spirit. Please . . . . just a little bit. Let me have the amount to protect everyone. Chakra._ Davis thought, forming the seal to call forth the nine-tails chakra. He felt even more chakra surge forth than the last time. This time, he got the impression of a mirror breaking inside him as the chakra surrounded him. His headband fell off from the force and his jacket zipper broke but he had enough chakra for what he needed.

"Die-!" the creature cried as the red-haired boy, Gaara, moved his hands into a seal under the creature's control.

"Here I come! Stupid raccoon!" Davis shouted, charging at Gaara. He was held back by sand tendrils as he reached the imprisoned vessel but this didn't stop him. He head bashed Gaara with a screamed, "You damn bastard!"

Davis noticed Gaara waking up even as he noticed the blood dripping from both of their foreheads. The raccoon demon dissolved into sand sending the two vessels falling down to the ground as the giant toad disappeared as well. They barely managed to catch the top tips of two trees, landing across from each other. The giant sword the toad had been wielding sticking out of the ground between them.

"I'm kind of . . . . at my limit. It must be the same for you. The most we can do is throw one punch at each other." Davis said, panting.

"We are very alike." Gaara responded.

"Let's end this now!" Davis shouted and the two boys launched at each other. The punches hit and the two boys fell and hit the ground together. They glared at each other from their positions lying on the ground.

" . . . . my existence will never be extinguished. It won't be extinguished! There is no way that I would let it disappear!" Gaara cried.

Davis didn't argue as he remembered the pain of his own childhood. The insults and side comments burned into his memory. He remembered how they ignored him and called him a monster. He remembered the intense pain he had felt all through his life.

"To them, I'm a relic of the past they want to get rid of. If so . . . . why am I alive? Why do I exist . . . ." Gaara wondered.

_'I felt like this about myself . . . . no . . . . I had no choice but to think of myself this way and I realized that this feeling is the most painful. It's to realize that your existence is not wanted in this world._ Davis remembered an old enemy's word, Haku, the hunter ninja from his first true ninja mission. He crawled on his stomach, inching slowly towards Gaara to try and comfort the vessel.

"Do-Don't come any closer!" Gaara cried when he noticed Davis's movement but the teen didn't stop.

"The pain of being alone . . . . is not an easy one to bear . . . . your feelings . . . . why . . . . is it . . . . that I can understand your pain?" Davis asked as he neared Gaara whose eyes widened. "But . . . . I already have many people who are important to me now. I won't let you hurt those people important to me even if you try to kill them . . . . I will stop you."

"Why . . . . Why do you go so far for others' sake?" Gaara gasped out.

"They saved me from the hell of being alone. They acknowledged my existence . . . . That's why they're all important to me." Davis answered and happily noticed understanding dawn in Gaara's eyes.

"That's enough Naruto. Sakura is fine now. This guy is likely out of chakra. The sand holding Sakura has completely collapsed." Sasuke said, kneeling next to Davis.

"I . . . . see." Davis agreed even as he heard two slight thumps near Gaara's location.

"That's enough . . . . It's over." Gaara said to the two who had made the thumps. Davis heard one of the two people agree before his conscious faded along with the memory.

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Davis was at the gate to a village. He faced a mob of villagers who looked murderous. They started throwing stones. Davis was horrified not just by the villager's actions but the face of one tormenter, Sakura. He couldn't believe she would hurt him like this so he ran.

Davis paid little attention to his destination as he was just trying to get away from the pain but he heard some of the villagers give chase. This wasn't easy as he was injured. A giant hole blemished his stomach and the poor teen's frantic run was not helping the healing process. He had no time to face the footsteps he heard behind as he finally stopped, overcome by his wound. He blacked out just as a dark opening pulled him in.

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Davis awoke slowly. The noise of battle ended as the enemy digimon ran away. Ken, Cody, and Veemon leaned over him, clearly worried.

"Hey, guys. What happened?" Davis asked, mentally trying to make sense of what he had seen during his period unconscious.

"Our enemy attacked. You couldn't get away in time." Cody answered.

"Where'd it go?"

"It ran away just as you were waking up." Ken explained.

"You okay, Davis?" Tai asked, walking over. Davis confirmed he was fine. "Okay. Get checked out by a doctor." Tai finished.

"Davis, did you see anything while you were unconscious?" Izzy asked, still concerned.

"Nope," Davis lied. He knew one thing, it appeared he was in fact Naruto but he had no intention of telling Izzy or most of the other digidestined about that.

"Then we should get going. Our enemy is gone for now." Kari spoke up.

"Yeah, I have band practice soon." Matt started, walking with the rest of the digidestined toward the nearest television. "Davis, apologize to Jun for me. I still don't know what it is I said to upset her."

"Have you even thought about it?" Davis asked.

"No. I don't have time to worry about it. Just apologize, okay?" Matt answered.

"Apologize to her yourself." Davis answered angrily as he realized Matt didn't even care enough to figure out what he had done wrong. Honestly, Davis was starting to wonder why he even bothered. He left through the television without a second look.

"What's wrong with him?" Matt asked as the rest of the digidestined reached them. All of the digidestined, except Ken and Cody, were stunned by Davis's anger. Ken and Cody didn't bother to answer as they looked at the group sadly and followed Davis. They were glad Davis had already left as they heard T.K. said, "He had no reason to act so rude."

Davis stalked angrily down the street after his revelation of Matt's behavior. Veemon was barely keeping up.

"Davis, wait!" he tried but Davis didn't notice.

Luckily, Neji stopped in their path, worried about Davis.

"What's wrong?" Neji asked.

"Nothing," Davis answered, cooling his temper. His mind jumped to the memory he had just experienced of fighting Neji and he saw an opportunity to prove if it was a memory. "Were Hinata's and your dad really twins?" Davis added.

"Yes," Neji answered. It took him a moment to realize he had never told Davis that. "How did you know?" he asked suspiciously.

"Um . . . . sorry. Just curious," Davis answered before rushing off. He didn't want to admit the possibility to the Konoha visitors quite yet. He still needed to be sure. He only had a few memories of Naruto's life. It was still possible they were wrong about who he had been.


	9. Chapter 9

Difficult Lives

The next morning gave Davis the proof he needed as the gaps in his memory had been relived in his dreams. His memory had returned and through this, he himself was changing. He felt like a part of him had just woken up and he felt things he had never felt before.

Davis worked hard to reconcile the two conflicting memories as the morning wore on. If his parents or Jun noticed he was quieter than normal, they assumed it was because of the situation with the digidestined and the new digimon enemy which Jun had explained to them. Davis felt bad not telling them what had happened to him but he knew he needed to talk his old friends. Neji and the others had known Naruto best and he hoped they could help him through the reintegration process. It was for this reason that he decided to use his Sunday to catch up with them and talk.

"Davis, where are we going?" Veemon asked as they left.

"We're going to visit Kakashi and everyone else." Davis answered.

"Why?"

"I need to talk to them about Naruto."

"But Davis, we already talked about this. You're not Naruto." Veemon answered, looking at his partner in surprise.

"That's not true, Veemon. I am Naruto." Davis said, smiling apologetically. Veemon didn't have a chance to respond as Davis grabbed him and jumped back.

Davis was waiting for Veemon's response when he felt long dormant instincts scream a warning. He barely managed to avoid Itachi's strike as he picked Veemon up and dodged.

"Don't look him in the eye, Veemon." Davis warned the blue dinosaur as he now remembered the Sharingan. He stretched his senses hoping to locate Kisame who he now remembered.

"So, you remember." Itachi stated as he noticed Davis take a stance Naruto once used. He left Veemon alone as he moved to pin Davis to a wall. Davis noticed this and moved sideways to avoid the attack. The once amnesic ninja was panicking through he wasn't showing it. He knew he wasn't strong enough to beat the two missing nin on his own.

Davis was caught by surprise when Kisame jumped behind him and knocked the spiky haired teen backwards which knocked the blue dinosaur out of his hands. Veemon was very unhappy about this but Davis was relieved. This left Veemon out of the crossfire since the two ninja were only after him. Itachi and Kisame moved towards him but they were interrupted from the downed form by the very people Davis had been headed to see.

Neji jumped in front of Davis protectively as the rest of the group showed up. Davis used this opportunity to grab Veemon but his luck for the day was just as bad as it ever was. His digivice went off just as he picked up his digimon.

"Go, Davis. We'll distract them." Kakashi told him, having moved next to the brunette at the digivice's noise.

"Alright, be careful, Kakashi-sensei." Davis responded and headed to the computer lab at his school. He didn't look back and didn't see Kakashi's stunned look at the new form of address Davis used.

Davis cursed the multitude of attacks he seemed destined to get into today as he read Ken's e-mail during his mad dash to the school's computer lab and the digiport stationed there.

"Hey, Davis, everyone's here. Let's go." Tai said as Davis ran in, absently noticing both the old and new generation of digimon gathered in the cramped computer room. Everyone followed the spiky haired leader through the digiport without hesitation.

Any thought of Itachi and Kisame's attack rushed out of Davis when he caught sight of the digimon that had only recently returned his lost memories. Any generosity from the thought disappeared as he remembered that the digimon would have killed him during the memory period if the other digidestined hadn't distracted it. It was a winged digimon with a humanoid body. The digimon had brown markings on a background of black, covering the body. The wings were of a feathered red with dark blue markings along the edge but the eyes were the most familiar to him with their black coloring and hints of red that faintly resembled Itachi's.

All of the digimon digivolved to their champion forms, except Gatomon and Patamon who digivolved through their digieggs, as the enemy released a "Mist Generator" covering the area in a thick mist.

"Okay, ExVeemon, go." Davis shouted.

"I can't see him, Davis." ExVeemon, Veemon's champion form, called out. He was a large blue dinosaur with thick muscles and an X mark on his white belly. A silver blade stuck up from his snout and small white wings shaped much like a Demidevimon's wings sprouted from his upper back.

Davis paused, noticing all of the digimon looking around franticly.

"Everyone, he's on ExVeemon's left." Davis shouted using his instincts to sense the malicious energy of their enemy.

"Vee-Laser!" ExVeemon shouted, firing a laser out of his chest to where Davis shouted.

"Star-Shower!" Pegasusmon, Patamon's evolved form, shouted shooting stars from his wings. He was an orange golden armored horse with armored wings, winged ears, and a long white mane and tail.

"Rosetta Stone!" Nefertimon, Gatomon's evolved form, cried shooting rocks from her necklace to the same spot as Veemon. She was a giant white cat with wings. Her front chest and paws were covered by white armor. Her short hair was white and framed her face matching the white in her white and purple stripped tail ending in a purple tuft at the end.

"Blast Rings!" Aquilamon, Hawkmon's champion form, shouted firing ray rings from his mouth just as he finished shouting. Aquilamon was a giant red hawk with curled black horns and white feathers near the ends of his wings.

"Tail Hammer!" Ankylomon, Armadillomon's champion form, shouted striking the enemy with his spiked tail. Ankylomon was a larger version of his rookie form. His body was covered in a golden armor ending at the tail which had a spiked mace stuck on the end. Spikes ran down his back on the armor and his ankles had spiked bands snugly connected around the limbs.

"Spiking Strikes!" Stingmon, Wormmon's champion form, cried using an energy spike from his gauntlets to hit the enemy. Stingmon was a green humanoid insect with a green helmet, red hair, and green antennae. His insect wings were thin and clear. They moved so fast they could barely be seen as the digimon charged his enemy.

"Nova Blast!" Greymon, Agumon's champion form, cried shooting a giant fireball out of his mouth. The large orange tyrannosaur had blue stripes scattered along his body and a brown helmet with three brown spikes sticking up from it, one at the snout and two at the ears.

"Howling Blaster!" Garurumon, Gabumon's champion form, shouted blasting the enemy with blue flames. This digimon was a giant white wolf with purple stripes scattered across its body as well and fur sticking up for a mane.

"Meteor Wing!" Birdramon, Biyomon's champion form, cried throwing flaming meteors from her wings. Birdramon's form was exactly what it sounded like, a giant orange bird. Her beak and feet were a fleshy pink and teeth lined the beak which looked more like a snout.

"Electro Shocker!" Kabuterimon, Tentomon's champion form, shouted firing a giant ball of electricity at their enemy, Saldremon. Kabuterimon was a large grey and blue armored horned beetle with thin and clear insect wings that were much bigger than the ones belonging to

Stingmon

"Needle Spray!" Togemon, Palmon's champion form, cried shooting millions of cactus spines out of her body. Togemon was a giant cactus with two feet wearing red boxing gloves. A tuft of spiky orange hair adorned the top of her head and three gaping holes served as her mouth and eyes.

"Harpoon Torpedo!" Ikkakumon, Gomamon's champion form, finished firing his horn which turned into a missile which he directed to the enemy. The final digimon, Joe's, was a large white furred seal with a simple grey horn on his head, the same one he used to attack, and long white fangs extending from his mouth in addition to the sharp teeth inside.

Davis was correct and Saldremon was caught by half of them before he realized they had found him.

"Golden Noose!" the gold armored covered Pegasumon shot with the cat like form of Nefertimon. They flew over the still stunned enemy holding a golden rope to bind Saldremon. Unfortunately, Saldremon dodged just in time.

"Center Beam!" Saldremon retaliated launching a blue beam from his stomach at Nefertimon and connecting with the attack.

"Nefertimon!" Kari cried at her fallen partner.

"Aquilamon, get him!" Yolei shouted angrily as her partner flew towards their enemy.

"Got it, Yolei, Grand Horn!" Aquailmon responded in a much deeper voice than his Hawkmon form and rammed the enemy. ExVeemon followed up the attack with a quick punch but Saldremon recovered and flew back into the mist.

"Where is he, Davis?" Tai demanded.

"Center Beam!" Saldremon attacked again before Davis could respond. This time, Stingmon took the hit.

"Equus Beam!" Pegasusmon tried, sending a green beam to where the enemy attack had come from.

"Cat's Eye Beam!" Nefertimon followed, having recovered from her injury. The attack sent a beam of light from her headdress but neither attack managed to hit. Their enemy had moved again.

"Davis?!" Matt shouted.

"Two feet behind Togemon!" Davis shouted back answering Matt's unspoken demand.

Birdramon and Ikkakumon fired their attacks again at the location Davis stated and this time they hit, knocking the enemy out of the mist and straight into ExVeemon's laser. Saldremon burst into pixels of data.

"We did it!" Tai celebrated but Davis' mind had returned to the first attack of his day and ran full pelt back to the TV they had come through with only one desperate thought running through his head. He had to help Kakashi and the others.

"Davis, where are you going?" Ken called after him having been the only one to notice Davis' headlong flight.

"Kakashi and the others, they're fighting the Akatsuki. I have to help them." Davis shouted just as he reached the digiport back. The digidestined looked at each other in confusion and followed the second generation's leader.


	10. Chapter 10

Difficult Lives

Davis got through the port and ran to where he had left his allies fighting. His fellow digidestined were barely keeping up but Davis paid them no mind as he rushed toward Naruto's friends.

Kakashi and the others weren't where he left but he knew he could find them. He called up the sense he had used to find their enemy digimon. It took longer to track the unfamiliar signatures than the digimon but he finally managed after tapping into Naruto's memories for their energy readings. The digidestined, still as confused as ever, followed Davis into an alleyway crowded by a very strange group of people that only Davis, Ken, Cody, and their respective digimon partners recognized. Davis happily noticed they seemed uninjured.

"Thank goodness. I was worried. Did Itachi and Kisame get away?" Davis asked.

"Yes." Kakashi answered regretfully.

"I'm sorry it took me so long to get back. We had to take care of an enemy digimon." Davis assured the silver haired man apologetically.

"It's fine, Davis." Shikamaru said lazily.

"Davis, what's going on?" Matt demanded, tired of trying to figure an answer or wait for anyone to explain. Davis started to respond but Matt interrupted him, "Veemon was rude to Yolie, Jun yelled at me and T.K. for no reason. Now, you're worried about strangers. What's your problem?"

Davis paused for a minute, deciding whether he should finally come clean. Coming to a decision, he finally answered, "They're not strangers to me. I remember them quite well. You want to know what my problem, Veemon's, and Jun's is with you all? Their problem with all of you is the way you treat me. Yolei's insults on my leadership ability a few days ago in the computer lab which T.K. and Kari added on to." Davis started, his voice raising as he spoke but with the next few lines he quieted down to say, "Yes, I heard, Veemon heard, and I told Jun. I made excuses for them because of our enemy but I don't need to anymore. Jun yelled at you," Davis pointed at Matt, "for your casual admission of my unimportance." Davis paused before continuing, "You know what hurts the most. You all think I'm so stupid. Comments about my grades and you don't even bother to listen to my plans anymore. You leave me behind and you don't even care. You pretend to be my friends but you're not. I don't have to take your treatment anymore and I won't. The only friends I have among you are Ken and Cody. They're the only ones I even want to see anymore." Davis finally finished and left with Ken, Cody, their digimon partners, and the ninja group Davis had come to find.

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The digidestined didn't talk for almost ten minutes after Davis's departure. At the beginning of his speech they had been furious but as Davis's words seeped in their anger ebbed as they realized he was right.

"Yolei, what did you say about Davis in the computer lab?" Tai asked as he was the first to recover.

"Yolei called Davis useless and complained about him being the leader." Kari answered.

"Actually, she said that she didn't believe that Davis ended up being our leader." T.K. explained guiltily.

"And you two agreed with her?!" Tai shouted incredulously. T.K. and Kari answered with their shameful expressions.

"Hey, we're not the only ones he complained about. What did Matt do?" Yolei demanded, tired of the three younger group members taking all the blame.

"He complained about everyone else. Weren't Ken and Cody with you guys?" Matt asked, remembering Davis' comment about the two members of the younger digidestined.

"They defended Davis when we insulted him. If Davis heard us, he heard them." T.K. answered his brother.

"Okay. Matt, what did he mean about your 'admission of his unimportance?' Tai finally said, directing the last part at Matt.

"I don't know." Matt snapped angrily.

"Then think. We have to know what we did wrong so we can set it right." Kari demanded tearfully. The Kamiya siblings had known Davis the longest and even they hadn't seen their friendship with Davis deteriorating so fast.

"I don't know." Matt repeated, thinking about his conversation with Jun and what he said about Davis. When his mind finally found the comment Davis was talking about, he paled and collapsed.

"Matt?" Tai questioned, trying to break through Matt's horror.

Matt failed to answer even when the oldest leader of the digidestined tried again. T.K. finally rushed forward, afraid of what Matt had remembered. He had never seen his brother like this. He frantically shook his brother, shouting Matt's name.

"No wonder she yelled at me. If someone had insulted T.K. that casually, I'd have probably punched 'em at least." Matt finally responded.

"What?" T.K. and Tai demanded fearfully.

"I said Davis wasn't important." Matt answering, lowering his head in shame.

"How can we make this right?" Kari finally asked quietly.

"By showing Davis we're willing to change. We have to show him that we can be the friends he deserves but first we have to get him to give us the chance." Tai answered and the digidestined huddled together discussing plans to get their friend back.

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"Davis, do you remember Konoha?" Sasuke asked hopefully.

"Yes, Sasuke. I remember everything." Davis answered Sasuke's spoken and unspoken question bitterly.

"What do you mean, Davis?" Ken asked confused.

"Remember that digimon attack? The one that knocked me out?" Davis asked.

"Yes, I was scared half to death." Ken answered.

"That attack. It seems to unlock memories or at least it did for me. Whe-"

"The attacked revealed Naruto's memories, didn't it?" Cody interrupted.

"Yeah kinda. When I was knocked out, I saw some of his memories." Davis answered.

"That's why you asked about my father yesterday?" Neji asked.

"Yep. Naruto's fight with you was one of the first." Davis answered. "Remembered the rest overnight."

"Finally!" Kiba exclaimed happily.

"I'm happy I remember you too." Davis joked with a smirk.

"Hey!" Kiba demanded, still trying to work out the connotations.

"Um, Kakashi-sensei, could you help me brush up on Naruto's skills. I want to be able to hold my own when we're attacked again?" Naruto asked, yet again using the form of address Naruto had once used.

Kakashi agreed with a smile and Davis smiled back.

"It's late. I need to get home." Ken spoke up.

Cody agreed so the group split up. Kakashi and Davis worked out a training schedule and went their separate ways.

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A few weeks had passed since Davis's confrontation with the digidestined and they had tried multiple times to talk to him but Davis still wasn't ready so he ignored.

Kakashi proved to be a good teacher to Davis for the first time in both memories. Davis had been very careful to avoid letting his true feelings to the silver haired jonin show. It helped that Davis was still working through his memories so he didn't remember all the jonin's mistakes but he had remembered the resentment which disappeared as Kakashi focused all his attention on training his former student. Veemon was the only one who realized how difficult the memories were for Davis as he was woken many nights by soft cries from his partner. Davis finally broke down one night and told Veemon about some of the memories he was dealing with. Veemon had been horrified and promised Davis that he would always be there for his partner. After that, Davis talked to the blue digimon whenever the pain or anger overwhelmed him.


	11. Chapter 11

Difficult Lives

The final confrontation with Itachi and Kisame came at a touchy time. Davis had finally agreed to talk to the other digidestined and had finished his training with Kakashi. He had finally reached the point Naruto's skill had been at before his disappearance. He had spent a lot of time with the Hyuga heiress, Hinata, who had easily accepted his apology about their first meeting. Hinata had told him much about the Hyuga family politics. The years since Naruto's disappearance had only shown Hinata's incompatibility and her sister's compatibly with the Hyuga clan leader position. Hinata had finally admitted that she had nothing to go back to if Davis didn't come with her and had admitted how she had felt about Naruto. Davis had suggested she should stick around after the others left. Hinata had actually thought about the idea seriously to Davis's complete surprise. Davis was happy about the idea as he came to realize he was falling in love with the lavender haired teen. He felt far stronger about her than he had ever felt for Kari.

Davis was on his way back from school when Itachi and Kisame attacked. Luckily, Hinata, Sasuke, and Davis sensed Kisame jump behind the brunette. Davis and his companions jumped out of the way of Kisame's sword just in time.

Kakashi turned and gestured Davis to help Gaara and the others who had surrounded Kisame. He caught a glimpse of Itachi appearing in front of Kakashi. Sasuke moved from Kisame to help Kakashi face his brother. Davis avoided Kisame's second sword slash but another caught the tail end of his chakra. He growled and created eight copies of himself to try and corner the missing nin. Gaara sent out a wave of sand trying to use a sand coffin technique he had learned on their target. They were unsuccessful. Shikamaru tried to the catch Kisame in his clan's shadow bloodline technique but Neji forced Kisame to jump away trying to use the 64 point attack he had used before. Neji barely dodged a slash from their enemy's sword. Gaara had set up a sand barrier to take the brunt of the slash further protecting Neji. Hinata closed in on Kisame to try the same thing but Kisame noticed and stepped forward hitting her with a horizontal strike with his sword. She barely managed to move so the cut hit shallowly into her right shoulder. Rage built inside Davis when he saw the attack. Davis's chakra increased until it felt like he would explode. The rage that exploded took the form of chakra as it burst out of Davis and hit everyone near him.

Luckily all of the pedestrians and cars had moved as far away from the fight as they could when it had started and Kakashi had gestured his groups to move farther away from Davis when he noticed the chakra forming. Neji helped Hinata move out of the way. Kakashi and Gaara were the only ones who couldn't get completely out of range. Gaara created a sand shield to protect them from the leading edge. Itachi and Kisame were not so lucky and were knocked unconscious by Davis's chakra burst of rage. Kakashi and Shikamaru tied the two ninja up and applied the appropriate seals to prevent them from using their chakra upon awakening.

"What should we do with them?" Kiba asked. He had been knocked out early in the fight with Kisame and moved to help the two confronting Itachi.

"Take them back with us to Konoha and turn them over to the Anbu." Kakashi answered as he checked Hinata's shoulder, the worst injury any of them had received.

"How do you get back?" Neji asked.

"The same way we came. It's time to go home. You're not coming, Neji?" Kakashi answered somehow managing to not sound surprised.

"No, neither are Sasuke and Hinata. We already talked about it." Neji answered.

"I betrayed the village. They shouldn't have let me back without punishment. I have nothing left. Itachi is a traitor and the only blood family I have left but Naruto was my brother so much more and I never realized. I have a second chance with the boy I finally realized I loved like a brother and I fully intend to show him. I can't do that in Konoha." Sasuke explained.

"I have nothing left in Konoha. I am unsuited for the clan head position and the only boy I have ever loved is here. I will not leave him." Hinata explained confidently.

"I will not leave my cousin. She is the only member of the Hyuga main family that I trust and truly desire to protect." Neji explained as well.

"I had a feeling you would not be returning with us." Gaara said, giving the object of their search a hug. "I will miss you, brother."

"Are there any messages you have, Davis?" Kakashi asked having already figured that Davis would remain. He had been the target of their search but no one had expected him to have formed a life or close bonds during the time he had disappeared and Kakashi knew that the people who missed Naruto would understand when he explained how happy the blond had become.

"Yeah, tell Tsunade to keep an eye on the village for me. Those idiots will never learn. Thank ero-sennin for me. He taught Naruto a lot and tell Iruka that he was the best father figure I could have ever asked for." Davis finally answered.

Kakashi nodded as he completed the jutsu with Sasuke's help and opened the way back for the small group. Shikamaru waved a lazy goodbye carrying Kisame grudgingly through the dark hole. Kiba threw a small smile back at the brunette while keeping an eye on Akamaru who after licking Davis's hand moved through the hole with Itachi draped over his back. Kiba followed him through. Gaara had already said his goodbyes so he followed the others. With a final farewell from Kakashi, the last of the returning group wandered through the dark hole which closed up behind him. Sasuke, Neji, Hinata, and Davis stood in front the now disappeared hole for a few minutes saying silent farewells to all those they had left behind before turning around and walking away to get the three ninja set up in their new lives.


	12. Reconciliation: Tai

**Author's Note:** Hey, everyone. First I would like to thank everyone for their response to this story. I have decided due to request and the popularity of this story to write a series of oneshots which I will be adding to this story. I have plans for at least two maybe three more through I will not be doing anymore after that. The first three will be centered on the individual relationships between Tai, Matt, T.K., and Kari in regards to Davis. At least the first two, including this one, will involve the process leading to Davis forgiving the first three and the third will probably be more of an explanation as to why Kari behaved the way she did through I haven't actually written it yet. The last will be a battle scene involving an evil digimon and how Davis would handle digital enemies with the new knowledge he gained from his lifetime as Naruto and why he would handle it that way. I hope you enjoy these as much as you enjoyed the story.

**Tai**

Tai Kamiya grimaced as he knocked on the Motomiya family's door. He had to see a friend through Davis wasn't willing to return the sentiment again quite yet.

The two boys had met when Tai was in middle school through their mutual love of soccer. Tai couldn't pinpoint when he fell into the same mistaken perception his sister and all their friends later had or if it had started the day he met the enthusiastic teen.

The two were very much alike which made his behavior even worse. Tai was a hot head. In the years he had mellowed some after taking the mantle of leadership for his group of digidestined. When he and his companions ended up in the Digital World he hadn't planned anything. He just reacted to the situation and it cost them a few times. Matt Ishida, his best friend since their adventure together, told him that he thought Tai was an arrogant hot head when they first met. Davis was much the same way. First impressions gave people an incomplete view of Davis. Only those who saw his hidden intelligence could call him a friend and most who had believed they could hold that title found out otherwise seven months ago when Davis finally ended the farce he considered his friendship with most of the digidestined, including Tai, to be.

Everyone made various attempts to apologize and make up for their mistake but Tai had been avoiding Davis. He was ashamed of his behavior but even worse he was angry at himself for not even noticing the disservice he had done to his successor. He couldn't even figure out why he'd done it. Years ago, when Davis and the new generation of digidestined went to the Digital World he made Davis their leader. There was a good reason. Tai had been impressed by Davis's handling of the strange situation they found themselves in. There were a few times he was impressed again but after the final battle against MaloMyotismon, most of the time spent in the Digital World was reconstruction and they didn't need a leader as much.

Tai had started college and spent much less time with Davis. Most of what he knew about Davis in recent years came from his sister and the new generation of digidestined of which his sister and two others had been angry and unfair to Davis both in person and what they had told the older children. Not that Tai was trying to shift blame. The older generation had a responsibility to help the younger generation and as a friend every digidestined had a responsibility to treat their friends, including Davis, with respect. That was a responsibility that only two digidestined had done leaving the rest scrambling to find a way to fix the damage they had done.

Sora had finally cornered him two days ago and insisted he talk to Davis. She, Mimi, Izzy, and Joe had already worked things out with Davis. Mind you, they didn't have the crest connections Matt or Tai did nor were they the digidestined leader for either generation. Tai had chosen Davis and then showed the teen little trust or respect in recent times. It would be harder to mend the friendship with Davis for Tai, Matt, Kari, T.K., and Yolei but Sora was right when she told him they needed to work on becoming a team again and Tai despite dreading this meeting did want his friend back. He had missed playing soccer with one of the few digidestined who could match him.

To Tai's horror, Jun answered. She had not appreciated their behavior toward her brother. Not even Sora and the others had managed to gain her forgiveness despite gaining Davis's.

"H-Hi Jun. Is Davis home?" Tai stuttered under her icy glare.

"Yes. He's expecting you but if I hear any indication Davis wants you to leave, I'll throw you out myself."

"Yes, ma'am." Tai gulped.

"Davis, Tai's here." Jun finally shouted back into the apartment.

"Thanks, Jun. Send him back."

Tai scurried away from Jun toward Davis's voice as fast as possible, her glare following him the whole way.

Davis's room was neat. While it had not been quite the pig sty the digidestined had occasionally teased him about it being, it had been a bit messy. Tai suspected the Konoha newcomer Hinata had something to do with it. His desktop computer rested on the small desk opposite his new orange and black bedspread. They formed a swirling pattern which Tai found fascinating. School books and notebook paper lay next to the computer. His soccer ball and shoes rested in his closet. Tai recognized many of the soccer teams on Davis's walls. The new pictures of Japanese ninja and authentic samurai accompanied sketches of various wilderness scenes most with forests and one mountain were new. Only some of the forest scenes were colored. The mountain featured five faces which Tai didn't recognize.

"So, who drew the pictures?" Tai asked after an uncomfortable silence.

"Neji. It's a hobby of his. The mountain was a national monument in Konoha, it holds the faces of all the leaders the Hidden Leaf village, Konoha, has had including the one currently in power, the woman Tsunade at the end." Davis explained watching Tai wearily.

"Oh. I-" Tai started but stopped as he realized he didn't know how to start.

"I'm surprised. You've been avoiding me. I wasn't expecting you to want to talk." Davis started.

"I-Sora-I know. I should have talked to you sooner. I have no excuse for my behavior. I based my behavior on what I was told which was wrong. As a leader, I should have known better. The digidestined are my responsibility as are you Davis. I chose you to lead and instead of supporting you I treated you with disrespect."

"Why did you choose me as leader? Was it a joke? You make me leader so T.K. could undermine me. What was the purpose or did I mess up somehow?" Davis asked passionately.

"No. I chose you because I believed you would be a great leader. The courage you showed and the level head. Ever since your first trip to the Digital you've impressed me and I don't know what happened to change that. I'm sorry, Davis. I do want to be your friend but I know I messed up." Tai answered vehemently.

"I really impressed you?"

"Yeah especially against MaloMyotismon. You saved everyone. So, what now?""

"We try this friendship again. Wanta play soccer tomorrow after I get out of school?" Davis asked.

"Yeah. Thanks, Davis." Tai agreed happily. An awkward silence followed.

"So, you said sketching was a hobby for Neji. How are Neji, Hinata, and Sasuke settling in?" Tai asked curiously.

Seven months ago, Davis had found out and actually remembered he had been a ninja in another dimension while jailing a demon beast in his body. Three of the friends who had come looking for him had stayed behind when the rest returned to their home dimension.

"Neji's working with troubled teens. Hinata's working on a nursing degree and Sasuke is in the police academy right now. He intends to be a police officer here."

"Are you and Hinata still dating?"

"Yeah. She's much more confident than she used to be."

"Glad to hear it. I'll see you tomorrow, Davis."

"Yeah, Tai. Thanks." Davis answered as Tai left. Hopes were high with both boys that their renewed friendship would succeed.


End file.
